Activision Blizzard eyes Call of Duty to end sales slump

Activision Blizzard reported lower sales for the fourth straight quarter, but said the success of its latest "Call of Duty" installment broke records.

Activision Blizzard breaks records for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 despite suffering losses in fourth quarter. (Call of Duty website)

US video game giant Activision Blizzard, which Microsoft is in the process of buying, on Monday reported lower sales for the fourth straight quarter, but said the success of its latest "Call of Duty" installment broke records.

The group saw its revenue decline in the third quarter by 14 percent to $1.78 billion, with console and PC games seeing big drops.

The bright spot was mobile games with apps like "Candy Crush" and this year's "Diablo Immortal" performing well.

Too late to be included in the latest results, the company said "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II" hit $1 billion in sales in just 10 days, the fastest release in franchise history.

This was making up for the lukewarm success of the 2021 installment, "Call of Duty: Vanguard."

The success of "Call of Duty," which has been an industry blockbuster since 2003, is a central concern of competition authorities in the EU and Britain, who fear Microsoft will make the franchise an exclusive offer on its Xbox console.

Microsoft has dismissed the suggestion, saying it would make no business sense to deny Sony's PlayStation.

US technology giant Microsoft in January announced its $69 billion bid to create the world's third biggest gaming company by revenue, behind China's Tencent and Japan's Sony.